F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: There was a complete disorder during the Senate session on Friday as legislators belonging to the opposition resorted to sloganeering and even surrounded the chairman Sadiq Sanjrani’s dais to protest against Rs30 per liter hike in the prices of petrol and diesel by the government, and that too in less than a week.
The opposition lawmakers disrupted the proceedings of the Senate and protested near the dais of the chairman who repeatedly warned to suspend the membership of those involved in halting the proceedings of the House.
During the protest of the opposition lawmakers, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani asked them not to cross the limit otherwise he would have to take action and suspend the membership of those involved in ruckus in the House. He also addressed a PTI lawmaker Faisal Javed to ensure decorum of the House otherwise he would take an action. The Senate chairman said that he would follow the suspension issue even in the ECP if the protesting lawmakers did not mend their ways.
Law and Justice Minister and Leader of the House Azam Nazeer Tarar said that it was agreed before the proceedings to listen to the suggestions from the opposition as per parliamentary traditions but the opposition differently reacted in the House. He said that lawmakers on the government benches were sitting silent and protest was being made by those who did not have strength to complete quorum and run the proceedings of the House.
Members of the opposition shouted ‘Imported Government Na Manzoor’ (imported government not acceptable) to vent their anger.
Although Chairman Sanjrani kept urging the lawmakers to keep quiet and sit on their benches, but in vain.
The situation turned so ugly that the chairman had to say it aloud to the PTI Senator Faisal Javed that if he resorted to sloganeering in future, he would be left with no other option but to suspend his membership.
He also warned other opposition senators with the same consequences.
Responding to the opposition’s protest, Azam Nazeer Tarar pointed fingers at the PTI government for the country’s dismal economic situation. “Who had destroyed the country’s economy?” he questioned in a clear reference to the last government. “They, who had made us slaves of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will lecture us on how to resurrect the economy,” he wondered.
Azam Nazir Tarar urged the PTI to avoid point-scoring on increased prices of petroleum products and electricity and suggest way forward as ruined economy was not the issue of any political party.
Speaking on an adjournment motion moved in Senate to discuss the increased prices of petroleum and electricity, Tarar said that the country badly needed unity as economy was not the issue of only one political party. The PTI government had left the country on the verge of default, besides ruining the economy, he added. He blamed PTI for high inflation in the country and urged them to show political maturity by avoiding chaos in the country.
He said the complex issues could not be tackled in just 55 days of the government. The PTI had left debt traps and the government was bound to honour commitments made by PTI to the IMF. Government has no resources to continue Rs 112 billion per annum subsidy on petroleum products’ prices. However, the poor were being given target subsidy to save them from impacts of inflation, he expressed.
PML-Q’s Kamal Ali Agha criticized increase in prices of petroleum products terming it unprecedented in country’s history. He appreciated PTI government for allocating Rs 466 billion subsidy in the prices of petroleum products.
Shaukat Tarin said that the former PTI government had provided Rs 466 billion subsidy to the people on petroleum prices by resisting International Monetary Fund (IMF). He claimed the profit margin of oil refineries has been increased from Rs 14 (in April) to Rs 70 per liter. Hyper-inflation was about to hit the people which would crush the poor.
Leader of the Opposition in Senate, Dr Shahzad Waseem asked the treasury members to announce that they would not receive free petrol from government exchequer.
Mushtaq Ahmed urged the government to stop providing free petrol to government functionaries and introduce austerity measures to save money.
